Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: An Unprecedented Verdict
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When something is hard to understand, it's usually tedious and boring.
But Loan's explanation was different.
“What is this? I don't understand a single thing, so why can't I look away?”
“I know. Why do I keep getting goosebumps? My heart is pounding, too.”
“I'm a little scared…”
It struck the mages' ears and hearts, tormenting their minds.
They couldn't tear their eyes away from the blackboard, or from Loan as he explained.
Meanwhile, Loan's presentation was moving past its halfway point.
“...If we proceed with the assumption that the initial premise is true, we arrive at the conclusion that movement would be possible. Now, from here, we move to a different theory. This one begins with the idea of a hypothetical passage, or a gate, connecting the two worlds.”
Surprised to hear another new theory was beginning, Anke asked curtly.
“A gate?”
“If the previous theory posits that the agent of manifestation is also the agent of movement, this theory allows for them to be different. I'll explain later, but passing through the gate would still require a considerable amount of mana.”
“Why is that?”
“To explain, I must first establish that there is a significant distance between the two worlds. I previously sensed a time lag between the Mirror of Phenomena and reality.”
“You sensed that?”
There was no way Anke hadn't seen her own reflection in the mirror of the Tower of Phenomena.
She had accepted without much difficulty that the reflection wasn't her, but she hadn't sensed any time lag between them.
Just how sharp were his senses? To notice something even the Tower Master of Sensation had missed.
Loan didn't wait for Anke to process her astonishment.
“It means the two worlds are separated by that much distance. By calculating the distance based on the time lag of the reflection and any delay in the transmission of sound waves, the formula is…”
He added notes next to the complex formula and demonstrated a simulation with a cloud model.
This concept was just as difficult to grasp. The faces of some mages had even turned pale.
Loan paid them no mind.
“I surmise that the gates to the demon world operate on a similar principle. Simply put, if you construct a connecting passage with a power strong enough to ignore time and distance, you can travel through it. That is the conclusion.”
“Of course, to create such a passage.”
“You would need immense power, or mana. The process, represented as a formula, is as follows. If you look here…”
The presentation continued for several more minutes before finally concluding.
The applause that should have followed his closing words never came.
Most of them simply blinked, looking as if their souls had left their bodies.
Those with less stamina slumped forward, burying their heads in their desks.
Only Anke and a few senior mages remained fully lucid.
Loan asked.
“Are there any questions?”
The tower remained silent.
One had to understand something to even have a question.
Anke forced herself to speak.
“Most of this is unprovable hypothesis. Thus, I see no grounds for me to refute it. Let's see how the Guardian of the Tower has judged it.”
She had no other choice. Seeing the look on Loan's face, which seemed to ask for more of an explanation, Anke added.
“We'll know in a moment. If the theory and formula are meaningless, they will likely be erased.”
Just then.
On the blackboard, next to Loan's formula, words began to write themselves.
Ssshk-
Anke's eyes widened once more as she watched.
As if unable to believe what she was seeing, she rubbed her eyes several times and stepped closer.
「Incomprehensible.」
「Uninterpretable.」
「Unjudgeable.」
「Unanalyzable.」
「...」
“I've never seen anything like this…”
When mages wrote theories, concepts, or formulas on the blackboard, the Guardian of the Tower would clearly identify what was wrong and where the problems lay, add its corrections, evaluate its worth, and then either erase it or leave it.
It had never made such concise corrections before.
‘Does this mean even the Guardian of the Tower can't understand Loan's formula?’
Inwardly flustered, Anke glanced at Loan, but his expression showed no particular agitation.
Other than a hint of disappointment.
On the other hand.
The mages of Perception, who had been quiet for so long, began to stir for the first time in a while.
“Have you ever seen that? Is that the same blackboard we know?”
“It was always so cold and merciless, a heartless blackboard…”
“I don't know whether to call this incredible, or just a shoddy theory and formula.”
It was a first for everyone, so no one could make a proper judgment.
What they were more curious about was the Guardian of the Tower's final verdict.
If a theory, concept, or formula was judged worthy of remaining in the world, the blackboard would leave it as is.
If two entries were written on the same topic, it would leave only the one worthy of remaining and erase the other.
Magic was a world where the winner takes all.
If multiple spells served the same purpose, only the one that consumed the least mana and produced the most powerful effect would survive.
Whether it could be achieved or not was irrelevant. If it couldn't, it would simply become a unique magic.
Thus, the Guardian of Perception, the Reflection of Perception, judged theories and formulas by such standards.
Even if they were wrong.
Mages would use the corrected content to supplement, develop, or re-prove it.
But this case was different.
The Guardian of the Tower was unable to pass judgment on either methodology.
How could it judge the value of something it didn't even know was right or wrong?
Just as everyone's curiosity was mounting.
“Hmm?”
“What is it…?”
The words that had been negatively correcting the preparation and development stages of the formula began to show a completely different result as they reached the conclusion.
「No error in the information drawn for manifestation.」
「Based on the presentation, no error in the components of the formula.」
「Assuming the hypothesis is true, no functional error.」
「Assuming the development process is true, no logical error found in the execution method.」
「No irrationality in the process of development and conclusion.」
「Assuming the hypothesis and development theory are true, magic manifestation is possible.」
As each letter was carved onto the blackboard, no one could make a sound.
Even the sound of swallowing was hushed.
And yet, everyone rose from their seats and drifted toward the blackboard as if possessed.
Anke and Loan, both focused on the blackboard, paid them no attention.
Soon, a crowd filled the space before the blackboard.
The arms of those pressed tightly together were all covered in goosebumps.
Finally, at the very bottom right of the blackboard.
「Both presentations on the topic are judged to be accurate and innovative theories capable of solving the problem.」
The moment the final verdict was inscribed.
“Woooooah!”
Animalistic cries of awe erupted from their mouths.
The Tower of Perception had acknowledged Loan's theory.
The only problem was that no one understood why.
As the mages, seemingly having forgotten human language, shared their emotions with sounds like 'woah,' 'ooooh,' and 'huh…'
The Tower Master of Perception, Anke, was.
“You make me reflect upon myself.”
Her unexpected words captured everyone's attention.
It is no easy feat to draw self-reflection from a mage, especially not the Tower Master of Perception.
She was a person whose pride and self-esteem were beyond imagination.
The greatest mind in Schwerin, who judged people by their intellect and refinement and often treated those who didn't meet her standards like insects.
For her to speak so plainly of her own shortcomings.
Loan, too, was at a loss for words seeing her serious expression.
“This is the first time something like this has happened, so I was honestly flustered. That the Guardian of the Tower could neither analyze nor interpret it, and yet still judged the result to be correct.”
“...”
“And so, I am ashamed. Ashamed of the years I did not try. I repent. I repent for the sloth that kept me from fully utilizing my intellect.”
“Wouldn't it be fine to start now? I believe there is no limit to what you can achieve from this point on, Tower Master.”
Loan gazed steadily at Anke with his sea-blue eyes, as if he truly believed it.
Unable to look away, Anke met his gaze for a long moment.
“I know my own shortcomings best. But hearing you say that makes me want to believe I can.”
Then she raised her hand and patted the arm of her distant junior.
“However, I am not the one qualified to speak with you now. You must feel it as well. This subtle vibration, filled with emotion.”
“Yes.”
Loan replied curtly and looked at the blackboard.
Anke stepped aside.
Loan sent his will into the dense mana coalesced beyond the letters.
While the mages of Perception continued their clamorous debate over the theory Loan had written.
Loan remained silent, gazing at the same blackboard.
Only the voices of the heart were exchanged.
After finishing its corrections, the 'Reflection of Perception' was even more emotionally heightened than when it had first sent a mental message.
-Your words, that it is no different here, have lightened my heart immensely. With a light heart, my breath is also light. I feel as if I could float like a cloud. Someday. Always. If I were to become endlessly light like that. Perhaps I would become the sound you spoke of. And if so, wouldn't I become the boy who leaps up from the well?
The words of the excited 'he,' or 'she.'
Somehow, within those words, as warm as poetry, lay a very heavy will. And so, Loan's heart grew heavy as well.
Had he given it too much hope?
It was merely a theory that his own intellect, which he had once considered complete, could not even begin to grasp a quarter of.
Loan conveyed his honest thoughts via a mental message.
-The day will surely come when this theory is realized. I am simply grateful that you recognized its potential.
-I am precise. I have never judged based on emotion. Now, from things never before considered, limitless possibilities will bloom. They, too, will strive for it.
Those last words were directed at the mages who were staring intently at the blackboard, desperately transcribing it.
After sharing that somewhat passionate mental exchange, Loan.
Approached Anke, who had been waiting silently for him.
She said.
“As you wish, the mages of the Tower of Perception will no longer hesitate to venture outside the tower. You need not worry.”
After Anke's pledge.
Wuuuuuuung-
The Tower of Perception vibrated again.
The emotion-filled tremor made Loan's heart swell with pride.
At the same time, the thought that it was time to move on naturally came to mind.
“Thank you. Then, I will head to the Tower of Sensation.”
“Do so.”
Anke, too, replied briskly.
Unlike at the Tower of Phenomena, the mages of Perception did not seem overly disappointed.
They were all still busy staring at the blackboard, deep in discussion. Their intellects had been thoroughly stimulated.
Leaving behind a puzzle that would torment them for a long time, Loan headed for the Tower of Sensation with the modernist mages.